Tears, hugs greet 90 Palestinian women, children freed from Israeli prisons

Ninety Palestinians have been freed from Israeli prisons and were greeted by large crowds of jubilant relatives, friends and supporters as they returned home to the occupied West Bank in the first prisoner exchange of the Hamas-Israel ceasefire following the release of three Israeli captives in Gaza.

At about 1am local time on Monday (23:00 GMT), Red Cross buses carrying the 90 Palestinian prisoners arrived in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, where they were greeted by crowds of thousands despite warnings from Israeli forces that celebrations would not be allowed.

The freed Palestinians included 69 women and 21 teenage boys – some as young as 12 – from the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.

Among them was Khalida Jarrar, 62, a leading member of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who had been held for six months in solitary confinement under “administrative detention”, which allows Israeli authorities to jail suspects indefinitely without charge or court verdict.In the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, crowds lifted many of the returned prisoners up onto their shoulders in an emotional show of support, as others shouted and whistled. Some attending the gathering carried the flags of Fatah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other armed resistance groups.

Seven hours earlier, three Israeli women captives in their mid-20s to early 30s were released in Gaza.

Bushra al-Tawil, a Palestinian journalist jailed in Israel in March 2024, was also among the prisoners released on Monday.

Tawil said she began her journey at 3am on Sunday morning (01:00 GMT), when she was taken from another Israeli prison ahead of release. In the second prison, she was grouped with other Palestinians awaiting release.

“The wait was extremely hard. But thank God, we were certain that at any moment we would be released,” she said.

Tawil said her father, who is also in an Israeli jail, will be released soon, too.